Fastener-inserting machine



Filed May 11, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Sept. 12, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FASTENER-I'NSERTING MACHINE Sylvester L. Gookin, Quincy, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 11, 1942, Serial No. 442,423

' (c1. 21s o.5

8 Claims.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide improvements in machines for inserting fasteners and supplying them with washers. It is more common to use washers with rivets than with eyelets, but the specifications concerning belts of heavy webbing for military use call for eyelets, of which some must be provided with washers and others inserted without washers. Regardless of the type of fasteners to be used, the improvements herein set forth are concerned chiefly with automatic means for supplying washers and feeding them to the point or points where they are to be assembled with the fasteners and secured to the work. The accompanying drawings illustrate an eyelet-inserting machine provided with the improvements to be described. The machine is equipped to insert three eyelets at a time and to provide two of them with washers. Many eyeleting machines are already in service without means for supplying washers, and the improvements to be described aredesigned to convert them into eyelet-and-washer machines without requiring any additional cam motion. To facilitate such conversion the washer-supplying equipment is designed to be operated by movable elements of the eyeleting equipment.

One of the improvements provided bythe invention consists in means operated by the eyelet raceway for placing individual washers in register with the eyelets about to be inserted through them. The coupling of the eyelet raceway and the Washer-feeding means not only does away with an individual cam for feeding the washers, but it-also synchronizes the movements of the eyelets and the washers into alinement with the tools by which they are to be assembled and secured to the work.

Another improvement is concerned with inducing the washers to gravitate from their hopper into two raceways in which they are stacked and conducted to the washer-feeding means. The washer raceways are vertical tubes the upper ends of which project into the hopper to agitate the washers in consequence of relative movement of the raceways and the hopper. This relative movement is derived. from an element of the fastener-inserting mechanism.

These features and others hereinafter described cooperate in the illustrated machine to speed production of cartridge belts by saving the time heretofore devoted to placing the washers by hand on the eyelet-clenching tools.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an eyeleting machine provided with washer-feeding mechanism embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the work-depressing mechanism included in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view sightedjfrom below, of a portion of a strip of webbing representing a specimen of work performed by the machine;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the upper portion of one of the tubes for conducting washers from a hopper;

Fig. 5 is a plan view, partly in section, including the work-supporting table and the washerieeding mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the washer-feeding plate in its delivering position;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the delivery end of the eyelet raceway;

Fig. 8 is a perspective View, partly in section, of one of two socket members with which the work-supporting table is provided to receive an control the washers;

Fig. 9 is a vertical section of the structure intersected by line IX-IX in Fig. 1, but the workpresser, the work-supporting table and the eyelet-inserting tools are shown in their lower positions and a section of belt is represented in outline; and

Fig. 10 is an elevation, partly broken away, of the means for supporting and guiding the work table, the direction of the view being from right to left with regard to Fig. 1

With the exception of minor details hereinafter specified, the fundamental organization of the illustrated eyeleting machine is similar to that illustrated and described in United States Letters 'Patent No. 2,076,556, granted April 13, 1937, on my application. One of the minor differences is that the former disclosure represents the machine as equipped with only one fastenerinserting tool, one anvil, and a single-track raceway for supplying the fasteners. On the other hand, the machine disclosed herein is equipped with a group of three fastener-inserting .tools, a group of three anvils, and a three-track raceway for supplying the fasteners. Again, the present machine is equipped with a different mechanism for depressing the work and with a diiferent type of work-supporting table arranged to be depressed in opposition to springs by which it is normally elevated.

The frame ll of the machine is provided with a forwardly extending horn or bracket. l2 affixed thereto by bolts 13. The uppersurface of the hornprovides a flat support for a bracket 44 and a superposed block 14 in which three anvil mem-,

bers are rigidly secured (see Fig. 9). The block I4 and the bracket 44 are affixed to the horn I2 by bolts, one of which is indicated at I5 in Fig. 1. The two anvil members I6, I6 are identical and are adjusted to stand at a common level, but the anvil member I! is of slightly different design and its upsetting surface stands at a slightly higher level because its function is to clench an eyelet without a washer while the function of the anvils I6 is to clench eyelets against washers. Each anvil member is provided with a central upstanding spear-point I8 and an" annular upsetting surface at the base of the latter.

Three fastener-inserting tools 20 are arranged to cooperate respectively with the anvil members and they are all aflixed to a supporting block 2I. The tools 20 are of usual construction for inserting eyelets in that each is provided with'a springpressed spindle 22 that is normally projected to pick an eyelet from a raceway. The tool-block 2I is affixed to-a vertically movable plunger 23 arranged to slide in a bearing formed in an overbroken lines. The table is affixed to the upper end of a carrier 43 arranged to slide up and down in the bracket 44, affixed to the horn I2. Two compression springs 45 nested in the carrier normally elevate the. latter against stops 39 (Fig. A work-piece lying on the table 42 is thus maintained slightly above the level of the spearpoints I8. 7 Parallel guiding flanges 46 project upwardly from the work-supporting surface of the'table 42 and are spaced one from the other in accordance with the width of a strip of web bing 41 (Fig. 3) used in the manufacture of military belts. The table normally overlies the three anvils I6, I6 and I1 and is provided with three holes to receive the anvils, respectively, when the work is'depressed. The two holes in register with at the conclusion of each revolution of the crankshaft the crank 24 will be arrested at top center where it is represented in Fig. 1.

The crank-shaft 26 also carries a cam 28, the purpose of which is to operate a raceway by which fasteners are supplied to the inserting tools 20. A raceway-carrier consisting of a frame 29 is connected to the frame I I by a fulcrum rod 30 and is provided with a cam-follower 3I that cooperates with the cam 28 andis maintained in contact with the latter by a tension spring 32. These features are of the same design and effect as the corresponding features of the racewayoperating mechanism shown and described in the aforesaid Letters Patent No. 2,076 556, but for the purpose of inserting three eyelets at once in military belts the frame 33 of theraceway unit is Q provided with two hoppers 34 and 35, and a series of channel-forming strips 36 (Fig. 7) arranged-to provide three eyelet-channels. The frame 33 is affixed to the carrier 29 by bolts 3! and the same bolts are also utilized to attach a supplementa1'arm-38 to the carrier.

member hereinafter described The hopper is superposed upon the hopper 34 to supply eyelets of dimensions different from those supplied by the hopper 34. .A single emission port 40 in the hopper 35 supplies short-barrel eyelets 48 to the middle track of the raceway while long-barrel eyelets 49 are supplied to the other tracks through emission ports in the hop- Thisis arranged normally to lie in the position represented'by, solid lines in Fig. 1 but is capable of being depressed to a position represent d by The func-' tion of this arm is to operate a washer-feeding the anvils I6 are provided with socket members 50 through which the anvils may extend. The socket members are pressed tightly into the holes and their upper ends are flush with the worksupporting surface of the table 42. Each socket member is provided with an internal annular I washer-supporting shoulder 5I (Fig. 8) and with a washer-receiving slot 52 slightly above the shoulder. fiat, circular washers II through the slots 52 and into the socket members, whereupon theshoulders 5I become effective to support the washers until they are transferred to the anvils. per portions of the socket members are then effective to maintain the washers in register with eyelets 49 about to be inserted through them.

The portion of the work-supporting table in the region of the anvils comprises an upper plate 42, a lower plate 53 and an intermediate plate 54,

the latter being slightly thicker than the wash-' ers. A portion of the plate 54 is cut away to provide a space through which the washers may be fed edgewise to the socket members 50. The

slots 52 in the socket members lie in register with this space.

The washer-feeding'member (Fig. 6) is a flat plate 56 of a thickness that will enable it to move edgewise in the space between the work-supporting plate and the lower plate 53. It is affixed to a cylindrical shank or stud 51 and is provided with a hole I3 through which the stud extends. The lower portion of the studis arranged to turn in a bearing 58 formed on the plate 53, and the upper portion is provided with an arm 64 by which the feeding member 56 may be oscillated. The feeding member is provided with two semicircular recesses 59 and with an intermediate recess6ll. The recesses 59 are of a width corresponding to the diameter of the washers to be "supplied and are arranged to insert washers through the slots 52 in the bushings 50. The broken lines in Fig.6 represent washers II lodged in the recesses 59. 4 The recess 60 has no function except to afford clearance for the anvil I! in the event that the Work-supporting table is depressed manually, while themachine is out of operation.

The washer-feeding member 56 derives its operating motion from the fastener-supplying race- 'way, and for this purpose the arm 38 (Fig. 1) is aflixed to the raceway-carrier 29 as hereinbefore stated. A link 6I communicates to-and-fro motion of the arm 38 to the arm 64, the, connections with the link 6I being of the ball-and- 'socket type; Accordingly, the arm 38 is provided with a ball-stud member 62 while a similar stud member 63 is-affixed to the arm 64. These elements are so organized that the washer-feeding member 56 place washers in the paths of Means hereinafter described feeds The up-' two of the fastener-inserting tools20 at the same time that the raceway places eyelets in the same paths. The fastener-supplying means and the washer-feeding means are thus synchronized.

Washers are supplied to the feeding member 56 by two tubes 65 and 66 which receive them from a hopper 61. 'The lower ends of these tubes are secured in a member 68 formed on an extension 55 of the work-supporting plate 42, and the washers stacked in the tubes are supported by the feeding member 56 except when the latter is fully retracted from its delivering position, but when the feeding member is fully retracted the recesses 59 lie in register with the tubes 65 and 66, whereupon the lowermost washers drop into the recesses and lie on the lower plate 53.

The upper ends of the washer tubes extend through guiding sleeves 69 affixed to a bracket I which constitutes the bottom of the hopper '61.

The washer tubes move up and down with the v work-supporting table but the bracket is afthe upper portion of one of the washer tubes and a washer H therein, the mouth 12 .is circular and only large enough to permit one washer at a time to pass through it, but below the mouth the tube is of larger'diameter to enable the Washers to turn over freely and right themselves.

Although the work-supporting table 42 is initially raised by the springs it is pressed 'down during a little more than the first half of the down-stroke of the plunger 23. The downward travel of the table is derived from the plunger 23 but is shorter than the travel of the plunger and is terminated earlier. For this purpose the machine is provided with a pressing mechanism represented separately in Fig. 2. The presser member 11 is in the form of a sleeve ,of rectangular cross-section and is arranged to surround the tool block 2!; A presser-foot 18 formed on the sleeve is arranged to engage the upper surface of a work-piece lying on the table 42, and is provided with three holes to receive the tools 20. The presser-foot is initially raised to clear the work-piece sufliciently to permit feeding the latter along the table. The presser TI is rigidly connected to a cross-piece 16 by two parallel tie-rods 15. These rods are arranged to slide in bearings bored in the plunger 23. A link 19 connected to the cross-piece by a pivot member 80 provides an operating connection with one arm of a bell-crank lever 8|. The other arm of the lever is connected to the upper end of a link 82 by a pivot member 83, and the lower end of this link is arranged on a fixed pivot member 84 secured to the frame II. The bell-crank lever 8| is carried up and down by an extension 86 of the plunger 23 to which it is connected by a fulcrum member 85.

The presser-foot 18 remains below the level of the delivery end of the raceway and its stroke is only long enough to depress the work to the bottoms of the spear-points I 8, but a longer stroke of the plunger 23 is required to carry the spindles 22 above the raceway. The toggle comprising the bell crank 8| and the link 19 produces relative movement of the presser foot and the plunger 23. When the toggle is straight (Fig. 1) this points.

relative movement is'little', but When'the toggle is at or near the Fig. 2 positionithe relative move- 'ment is so great as to counteract the travel of the. plunger and thereby reduce the actual travel of the presser foot to nil. The transition from minimum to maximum relative movement is accelerated as the angle of the toggle becomes acute, until the countermotion of the presser foot is equal to the travel of the plunger. Thereafter, the presser foot remains stationary in location while the toggle absorbs the remainder of the down-stroke of the plunger. The remainder of the downstroke of the plunger 23 merely inserts and clenches the eyelets without further depressing the presser-foot. When the plunger and the presser-foot rise after the eyelets have been clenched, the work-supporting table also rises and strips the clenched eyelets from the spear- The slight upward travel of the presser-foot after the workltable is arrested frees the workpiece and the latter may be fed manually along the work-table 42 before the one-revolution clutch is again tripped. To provide for uniform spacing of, the groups of eyelets, the work-table is provided with an upstanding spur 81 on which the middle eyelet of each group may be placed while the trailing portion ofthe belt is loosely confined between the guiding flanges 46 by the presser-foot. At the beginning of a cycle of operations one washer is lodged in'each of the socket members 50 in readiness to receive an eyelet, and the raceway unit stands as shown in Fig. 1, the eyelets at its delivery end being in register with the inserting tools,.respectively. The washer-feeding member 56 then stands in its forward position. If a work-piece 4'! lies on the table 42 and under the presser foot 18 it will not at first be clamped by the latter but will be free to be located with lengthwise movement.

Now, if the machine be started the plunger 23 will descend, the presser foot 18 will also de scend,. thereby clamping the work-piece against the work table and thereafter depressing it and the table 42. Meanwhile, the spindles 22 will enter the eyelets, and the raceway unit will be retracted. The raceway unit retracts the washerfeeding member 56 for the reception of washers from the tubes and 66 for the next loading of the socket members 50. r

As the presser foot 18 descends it impales the work-piece on the points l8 and depresses the socket members 50 to the level represented in Fig. 9, but the inserting tools 20 descend more rapidly than the presser foot and with greater the rise of the latter is arrested by the stops 39 but the presser foot rises far enough to release the work-piece for feeding. During the final stages of these upward movements the raceway unit returns to its initial position (Fig. 1), thereby operating the washer-feeding member 56 with the result that the socket members 56 are loaded with washers for the next run of the machine. This completes a cycle and the machine is automatically stopped at this point.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure .by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a fastener-inserting machine of thetype in which a fastener inserting tool is carried bya reciprocatory plunger toward and from'a coopcrating anvilrhaving a central pilot for piercing the work, the combination of power-operated means including a movable work-engaging member arranged to strip the work from said pilot, an upstanding tube carried by said member, a hopper arranged, to support a mass of washers about therupper end of said tube, and power-operated means arranged to transfer washers "from the lower end of said tube to a position between said tool and said anvil.

2. In a fastener-inserting machine of the type in which a fastener-inserting tool is carried by a reciprocatory plunger toward and from a cooperating anvil having a central pilot for piercing the work, the combination of a presser arranged to impale a work-piece on saidipilot, presseroperating means actuated by said'plunger, means for feeding washers to a position between said tool and said anvil, a hopper, and means actuated 'by said presser for supplying washers from said carried bythe work-supporting means for feeding a washer into register with said pilot, an upstanding tube carried by the work-supporting means for guiding washers to said Washer-feeding means, and a hopper arranged to'support a mass of washers about the upper end of sai tube.

4. Washer-supplying apparatus comprising a receptacle for. supporting a mass of indiscriminately arranged circular washers, and an upstanding tube through which the washers may gravitate, the upper portion of the tube being arranged to extend through the bottom of'the receptacle and into the mass 01 washers, the mouth in the upper end ,of the tube being circular and only large enough to permit one washer at a time topass through it but the bore of the tube adjacent to the mouth being larger than the mouth to enable the washers to turn over able up and down with respect to said member, a

washer-feeding member carried up and down by said table but movable. relatively thereto,'means by which washers are guided to said washer-feeding member, and means by which said members are coupled to synchronize their feeding movements and absorb the up-and-down movements of the washer-feeding member. 1

6. In a fastener-inserting machine of the type in which a fastener-inserting tool is movable downwardly toward a cooperative anvil, the combination of a socket member having a socket to receive a washer and said anvil, said member also having a shoulder in the socket to support a washer above the anvil, and means arranged to feed a washer into the socket. Z

7. In a fastener-inserting machine of the'type in which a fastener-inserting tool and an anvil are arranged to cooperate with relative up-anddown movement, the combination of a work-supporting table arranged to move up and down, an upstanding tube carried thereby, a'stationary hopper arranged to support a mass of washers about the upper end of said tube, power-operated mechanism arranged to move the table and said tubeup and down, and means carried by said table to transfer washers from the lower end of said tube to a position between said tool and said anvil. I

8. In a fastener-inserting machine of the type in which a power-operated actuator reciprocates a plunger by which'a fastener-inserting tool is carried, the combination of a washer-feeding member arranged to place a washer in thepa of said tool, a hopper, a raceway arranged o conduct stacked washers. from said hopper to said washer-feeding member, a yieldable wo ksupporting table by which said washer-feeding member and said raceway are carried up and down and maintained in cooperative relation to each other, and means by which the strokes of saidplunger are communicated in part to said table.

SYLVESTER L. GOOKIN. 

